Wee said that when he was the transport minister, the government had decided to replace the 146-year-old ferries with air-conditioned catamarans.

He said that back then, former Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng and his sister, Hui Ying, now a deputy finance minister, “didn’t hold back” in accusing him of betraying the people over the decision.

“The Lim siblings were adamant about restoring the old Penang ferries,” he said in a Facebook post.

In 2020, Hui Ying, who was then a senator, told the Dewan Negara she would like to see that at least two of the three old ferries previously in use were retained.

In July last year, Guan Eng pledged to bring back the iconic ferry service in Penang, especially for vehicles. He said even Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had agreed to restore the old ferries.

However, he said if the old ferries are to be restored, the operations costs will be more than RM30 million.

He claimed that the previous federal administration had destroyed the ferry terminals that enabled the iconic ferries to berth. A new ferry terminal would need to be built to bring the ferries that could transport vehicles.

He also said the unity government was mulling over the matter due to the huge costs involved.

Wee said this was a “classic example” of one’s actions not matching their words.

“What happened? Guan Eng’s words do not match his actions now. Yesterday, (one of) these old ferries sank. What does that mean?”

A ferry moored at the Sultan Abdul Halim Terminal in Penang sank early yesterday morning. It was reported that it began to lean to one side before sinking at about 3am after strong winds snapped its mooring ropes.